


Opportunities

by jinhoes (orphan_account)



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Dark Twins, F/F, Family, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rating will go up, Slow Burn, also tad and will to the rescue, bill kinda kidnaps the twins as babies, eventual billdip, eventual but kinda established tadwill, eventual mabifica, eventual underage, idk how to tag here I'm sorry, like reallllly slow, magic twins, not really but kinda, probably to M at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 17:10:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6619198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/jinhoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a late September day in 2000, two twin children go missing in California. Meanwhile, three demons are forced to deal with the consequences of their actions in Gravity Falls, Oregon. A fic spread across 17 years of growth, with a strange amount of familial feelings for a family of demons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Opportunities

The inside of the the Cipher-Strange household had erupted into chaos within moments, a flurry of shouting set off by the appearance of a familiar face in their entryway.

Technically, it wasn’t their household or entryway- it belonged to some rich couple with a dozen houses, and the deed was signed under their name. But the likelihood was , considering they hadn't visited the home in over a decade, it was pretty much abandoned. The place had been fixed up recently, cleaned meticulously of every speck of dust, new furniture added and a change of decoration to suit its new residents.

New furniture and decorations which werein immediate danger of being destroyed by the arguments and frustration of its new residents.

“Cipher, _no_.” Tad Strange’s voice was only a step short of a growl, full of horrified disbelief.

“You don’t _GET_ a choice!” The blonde demon responded, a smile on his face even through the warning undertone, though the effect was slightly lost due to the bundles on each of his arms. He shifted them lazily in such a manner that the bluette partially behind Strange made a terrified sound, certain he was about to drop them. Bill Cipher diverted his attention in the direction of the gasp and met his eyes.

Without further adieu, he dropped one blanket pile into Tad’s arms and the other unceremoniously into Will’s, eliciting a squeak when the latter struggled not to fumble the new weight.

“I’ll explain later,” he said, and both demons before him caught the tone of apology even through his cheery lit. It made them confused, and ready to question more- but then, he was gone.

“Get back here!” Strange shouted, taking the spot Cipher had previously occupied and glaring with such ferocity at the ceiling it was a wonder it wasn’t catching fire. As it was, smoke curled over the spot directly above him at a slow rate, white puffs that twisted in the air and dissipated not far off.

Meanwhile, Will was struggling not to enter a state of full blown panic, staring down at the half-asleep baby boy swaddled loosely in blue blankets in his arm as he paced hurriedly alongside Tad. Overwhelmed tears formed at the corners of his eyes, turning his eyes glassy and his vision misty, though it was so typical he barely paid it any mind in the grand scheme of what was going on. He spoke, noticing the curling wisps above their heads for the first time. “... T-Tad?”

The purple-clad figure before him paused in his staring contest with the ceiling, and the wisps curled away. Then, he gave a long sigh, one of frustration and resignation, and walked in front of Will.

Idly, he noted the tears and thought his partner looked best with tears in his eyes, though he shared the confusion and overwhelmed feelings this time. So instead of observing them, he caught one close to overflowing with a finger. He dropped his finger immediately after, not seeing the point in drawing much attention to the action. “Your brother’s an asshole.”

Will laughed a little, even as his shoulders were tense and awkward, and he made no move to disagree. “What... what are we going to do now?”

Tad stood silent, looking him over, and then shrugged and glanced at both the babies they’d practically had thrust at them moments ago.

“I guess we have to watch them until Cipher gets back with his explanation,” he said, spitting the word ‘Cipher’ like an insult. Seeing Will’s rising panic, he continued on. “They’re asleep. Humans don’t need much care when they’re asleep, right?”

Will didn't appreciate the condescending tone but nodded fervently anyway, relaxing just slightly before he, too, looked down at his arms. The boy had brown hair and pink skin and a strange flurry of freckles or something on his forehead that vaguely resembled a constellation, and he wondered if the reason his brother had dropped them off was because they were special or had superior magical abilities. Maybe they were the ancestors of Time Baby, he allowed himself to consider, and they’d be the ones that set off the chain of superior intelligence and mental abilities. Or perhaps they were meant to grow into some great human figures, and having them in their hands would be in their favor.

He stared down at the boy in his arms, then took notice of something with a jolt.

The boy stared back.

Then, opened his mouth so far Will could see the soft pink of his throat, and let out a _scream_ that would put any banshee to shame.

Will seized up and looked like he may be preparing to mimic the sound, but Tad switched their charges almost instantly. It was comical, watching the aggressive and intimidating figure that was Tad Strange try to placate a child, but it quickly changed from comical to the simple hope that he actually can.

The girl was awake too now, looking up at Will with large brown eyes. He winced and closed his eyes tightly, preparing for the same reaction as her brother, but the second screaming voice did not come. Instead, when he finally gathered the courage to open his eyes and look down a second later, her expression was instead confused and maybe equally annoyed at her brother’s louder shrieks as Tad was.

He smiled hesitantly, thankful, but winced again at another noise assault on his ears.

“How do you shut this thing up?” Tad hissed, eyes wide as he turned the boy this way and that, doing absolutely nothing for his situation when the boy’s wailing only became more incessant. He groaned, massaging the bridge of his nose while the beginnings of a headache throbbed.

“Maybe he’s hungry?” Will suggested weakly, having no guesses himself. But Tad latched onto it and rushed to the kitchen. Will blinked, surprised at the reaction, and trailed behind him.

“What do the larvae eat?” Tad muttered in question, largely to himself, and shifted through the fridge- an impressive feat for someone holding a squirming, crying worm in hand.

“Milk?”

“You can’t _eat_ milk, Will,” Tad said dismissively, and Will shrank back a bit with a bite on his lip.

After a second of searching, Tad groaned and closed the fridge with more force than likely was necessary, and dropped the boy in Will’s arms. The blue-haired demon’s expression became one of horror before he shifted both babies onto opposite arms, practically running out of the room after him. “ _Tad_!”

“What?”

“What are you doing?”

“Checking the internet.”

“Oh.” Of course. That was a great idea. Will probably would have thought of it earlier had he not been so frazzled over the suddenness.

Tad snatched his phone from the counter as Will struggled to manage the screaming boy and the girl whose hands kept reaching up to his face and discovered that, yes, human babies do indeed live largely on milk. Not cow’s milk, but human. Humans are strange, though, so he could easily imagine going up to a female and requesting her provisions would not go over so well, even if it was for good reason.

Luckily, further searching revealed that there seemed to be an alternative available called “formula”. It was fake and dubious, Tad thought, but if humans accept it and it would shut this kid up, then he was many times more than willing.

He pocketed his phone and looked up, triumphant, to an anxious but resigned seeming Will.

“Got it! I’ll head to the store and be back in a few minutes.”

“But-!” Will began to protest, but then Tad was gone and he was left alone with the squirming things of too-hot and sweaty flesh.

Will stood completely still, staring wide eyed at the spot Tad had just stood, then sighed. With a deep, shaky breath that betrayed his unsteadiness, he found himself moving into the living room with the infants in his arms. Neither seemed to understand the reality of their situation and the danger they were in under this foreign roof, but he supposed it was for the best.

With a weary sigh, Will sat both babies onto the couch, where they abruptly fell over onto their chubby stomachs. Frowning, he retrieved pillows from another corner and used them to prop the babies up, but it didn't take long for that to fail too. He wrinkled his nose a little, unsatisfied, and sat himself down in the armchair to watch them tiredly. A few random shrieks escaped the boy with annoying regularity, sending Will’s non-existent heart into overdrive every time.

Tad reappeared after five minutes or so ( _thank the gods_ , one more scream and Will probably would have _collapsed_ ), whirling around until he spotted the blue-haired demon. Once he had his eye, he grinned as he held up several boxes. “Good to go. They need lots, apparently.”

Will was on his feet and taking the boxes before Tad had even finished speaking. “I’ll make it!” he declared, a large, innocent smile on his face. “You can watch them!” And before Tad could protest, he rounded the corner and was out of sight.

With a weary sigh, Tad took the spot on the armchair previously occupied by Will and looked with a disgusted glance at the babies sat on the couch. At least the boy had at last dissolved into nothing more than whimpers, though its face contorted constantly as though it was still willing to make an effort. The girl had drifted back off to sleep, one fist clenching and unclenching next to her head as she dreamt whatever human offspring dream of. Tad was sure Will and Bill would know, but Tad could hardly care less anyway.

They were young, the babies, he found that obvious in their appearance. Less than six months, probably. Cipher had better have had a very good reason for dropping them off here without an immediate explanation, or there wasn’t much the little things could do to protect themselves from Tad’s irritation.

Will reentered the room, slow and cautious and nearly fearful in his manner, with two bottles in hand. Tad’s eyes were amused as he watched him, though the purple demon didn't say a word. One bottle was passed to Tad after a minute, and then Will sat on the arm of the chair with the girl held in his arms, a little too much distance between the human and the demon for casualty.

As the girl yawned and stretched a little, he explained the process told on the box. “They probably already know how it works? I think? So you just have to put the bottle in front of them-” he did so, and the girl’s lips pushed forward until they enclosed on the mouth of the bottle. His expression was relieved, even delighted at the ease of it, and he relaxed a little, “- and make sure they don’t choke, and that’s it!”

While Will monitored his charge, Tad leaned forward and took the boy, debating how easy it may be to “accidentally” have him choke on the formula, but he got the feeling it would destroy Will, so he abandoned the thoughts before they could take much ground.

The boy got an all-too-familiar look on his face before Tad shoved the bottle in his widening mouth, halting an imminent disaster in its tracks.

Thoroughly pacified and sucking on the bottle, Tad allowed himself to exhale in relief and meet Will’s eyes for a moment, both grinning a little- Tad smug at finding a solution, Will hesitant in believing it could be this easy. Tad almost laughed at the cynicism, preparing to make a teasing comment.

Then-

“ _OW_!”

Tad sat upright, surprised, and held back a laugh only narrowly at the sight- Will Cipher, one of the most powerful beings in this dimension and others, struggling to pry an infant girl’s fingers from his soft blue hair. He was horrified when Tad released a snicker and the girl gurgled in response, trying even harder to wrestle the fingers away.

“Don’t laugh!” he pleaded, relieving his hair from the girl’s iron grip and slowly running his fingers through the assaulted lock with delicacy.

Tad patted the bluette’s knee reassuringly, glancing down at the baby boy in his arms.

The boy stared back.

And screamed.

Tad’s heart clenched and Will jumped, almost falling off the arm of the chair, and in his lapse of concentration the girl wound her fingers tightly in his hair. He cried out loudly in pain as she tugged, pain on his face- contrary to popular belief, not all demons enjoyed pain, and certainly not all Ciphers. He grasped her small fist in his hand and worked frantically to disengage her while the screams crescendoed in the background and Tad made stupid shushing noises, despite never having seen in work in any of the TV programs he’d watched.

Back to the drawing board.

\----

It was an hour later when Bill Cipher reappeared, three bags and a few boxes at his side as he does so. He watched, not even attempting to hide his amusement as the chaos unfolded obliviously to his presence.

Will was slumped across the armchair in the main living room off the kitchen, a baby boy on his chest and wailing, though the boy looked like it could drop into exhaustion at any moment. His brother’s eyes were dead and he had tear tracks dried on his cheeks as he gazed, blankly, at the ceiling.

Tad Strange was in the kitchen, the girl in one hand and scissors in the other. Bill considered the likelihood that he might be about to witness Strange losing it completely onto the child, but then saw the girl’s hand entangled tightly in his curled, purple hair as he raised the scissors to cut them out (the girl’s fingers or Tad’s hair, he was unsure) while mumbling to himself irritably amongst the screams in the living room.

“ _So_ ,” said Bill, smiling broadly, his tone low and casual, determining this to be a good moment to make his presence known. “Fun night?”

Will shot upright, wide doe eyes staring at him intently as he raised a hand to support the baby on his chest reflexively.

Tad, meanwhile, dropped the scissors in the floor and turned his head, inadvertently allowing the girl to tear out hair. He didn't react.

“Cipher!”

Bill smiled wider, throwing his arms out as though bathing in adoration. “In the flesh! _Literally_!” He gestured to his flesh arms to emphasize this, and received dull and unimpressed looks in response. He didn't mind, simply shrugging and dropping his arms to his side with a heavy sound.

“Where have you _been_?” Tad demanded, while Bill bent down and messed with his bags.

“I’ve been _aaaaall_ over, searching for things various tiny bags of skin shoved full of organs and bones may need to continue existence in the physical world!” He pulled things out of the bags and tossed them to the side haphazardly- bottles, colorful plastic toys, diapers, more boxes of formula, an unidentifiable piece of viscera (he looked at it for a second, contemplating, then shrugged and set it with the rest of the things), pacifiers, and more. The boxes had pictures of cribs on the side and another a playpen, and multicolored blankets were stacked on top.

Tad found his voice, and spoke over the still whimpering boy. “What’s this all for?”

“I told you, I’ll explain,” Bill said, lazy and offhanded. Tad surged forward until he was stooped over Bill, stance as threatening as one demon could be with a cooing pink blanket in one’s arms, but it was Will who spoke up first.

“Bill… what’s wrong?”

And then, Tad could see it, too. The distracted expression with hooded, thought heavy eyes. Bill’s hands stilled in the bags, not moving or shifting, even when Tad took a step back and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Cipher?”

The yellow haired demon stood up, shorter than Tad and only barely taller than Will. He bit his tongue and hesitated, a move unlike him, then relented as he looked between both of his companions.

“I need a favor.”

\----

Bill had, thankfully, offered to spend some time taking care of the babies and testing out some of the items he had gone through all that trouble to find (both Strange and Will suspected it was Bill’s own fault it had been troublesome, but that couldn’t really be helped with him). It would have been nice if he had been apologetic with the move, but he had disguised it fully as though he were doing something helpful out of the very nonexistent kindness of his heart. They supposed that was what they should expect from the yellow triangle anyway.

Both Tad and Will were in the kitchen, sitting on the counter. Will swung his feet and worried his lip, and Tad was silent, staring at the tiled floor below. It had been a few minutes, and not a word spoken since, lost in their own thoughts.

“We have to help him,” Will said finally, looking at Tad with pleading eyes. When he got no response, he averted his gaze again and twitched his fingers.

He tried again. “I- you know Bill, Tad, he wouldn’t ask for something like this if he didn’t absolutely need to. You know that.”

“I know that,” Tad confirmed in a strangely warm tone, making Will lift his eyes up. Tad turned his way and reached forward, running his hands slowly through Will’s hair beside his head with a hum, but Will knew him better and wasn’t fooled by it. He saw the darkening of his iris and sclera, something not good; felt the power thrumming through his fingertips so close to his head for a reason which was _very_ not good, surely.

Nevertheless, Will was unafraid, because Tad was one of two people in the universe who don’t scare Will when they should. Tad had his complete trust, and had called him idiotic several times for it before, but it stood true. That trust means that even with Tad radiating danger, he looked over his face and managed to ask, “What do you want to do?”

The power thrummed louder and the fingers in his hair tightened into almost a tug, and though the pain is present Will showed no reaction besides a swallow. Then, just as quickly as everything had built, Tad dropped his hand and the danger dissipated.

“I want to kick your brother and his little worms outside to fend for themselves.” Will looked unsurprised, if a bit worried, and Tad continued after a split second of observing his reaction. “But I won’t. I’ll give it a trial run. One year, and if it doesn’t get any better-” (if the boy doesn’t stop screaming, they both thought silently with varying levels of amusement) “-then we’ll send them off. Bill’s plans are good, but he must have better ways than this to protect them.”

Will leaned back, his head connecting lightly with the wood of the cabinet behind as something like a smile flitted to his mouth. “Thank you.”

Tad’s lips quirked up a little, and he slid from the counter. “Sure. Let’s go talk to the bastard.”

The pair exited the kitchen and enter the living room, and Bill looked up at them with bright eyes that could have forewarned of fever, had he gotten such things. His blond hair was clasped tightly in the girl’s grasp, and with each tug his grin only grew to inhumanly levels. The boy was sleeping against his chest with a pacifier in its mouth, silenced for only the third time the entire night.

“So,” he said, not sitting up or shifting whatsoever as he looked between them. “Deal?”

“ _One_ year, Cipher,” Tad responded in monotone, firm. Bill lifted an eyebrow and started to protest, but Tad cut him off. “One year, and then we’ll decide if we want to help you or not. We’re demons, not babysitters, and you know that.”

Bill Cipher smirked, not denying the pointed comment and shifted his gaze to Will, who nodded in agreement with what Strange had decided.

“ _And_ -” Tad continued, causing the blonde demon to roll his eyes and await further terms. “You have to help.”

Bill sat upright, making the girl squeal as her hand was dislodged and the boy slid onto his lap, not waking. “That’s kind of the point, y’know?! I’m a busy guy. I can’t do much. That’s why I’m resorting to _pathetic pleading_ and _reliance_ on you both.” He spit out the words like they left a bitter taste in his mouth, and Will suspected they just may.

“Help where you can,” Tad ordered, eyes flashing a deep purple and leaving no room for argument. “Because we know you’re busy, but so are we, and this is _your_ mess. Not ours.”

“... Fine,” Bill grit out, and Will could see him fighting with himself to force the words through his teeth. “I’ll help where I can. I’ll provide where I can. Gold, whatever.”

Tad, who assumed that was a given, didn’t address it in the case that Bill chose to withdraw his compliance, considering he was so incredibly _him_.

“Then," said Tad slowly, feeling more than slightly as if he may be signing a death warrant, "... it’s a deal.”

\----

A year flies by. Then another. And, despite everything, the twins remain.


End file.
